Container made of paper and method of making the same



4 Sheets-Sheet 1 -"KVllllII/lawIll11Il//l1zlllllaz4 Sept. 3, 1946.A M. E. GAZETTE CONTAINER MADE OF PAPER, AND METHOD` OF MAKING THE SAME vFiled Aug. rrr, 1942 IIIIIII Sept. 3, 1946. M. E. GAZETTE 2,406,758

CONTAINER MADE 0F PAPER, AND METHOD 0F MAKING THE SAME Filed Aug. 7, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 3, 1946.

M. E. GAZETTE CONTAINER MADE OF PAPER, ANDl MET'HOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Aug. 7, 1942 4 sheets-sheet 3 Illtllllllllllilllll Illllf MaafaaaZZEaee,

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Sept. 3,- 1946. M, E GAZETTE 2,406,758

CONTAINER MADE OF PAPER, ANO METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME File@ Aug. '7. 1942 `4 sheets-sheet 4 Eile/18.-

Patented Sept. 3, 1946 CONTAINER MADE OF PAPER AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Marshall E. Gazette, Boston, Mass., assigner, by

mesne assignments, to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 7, 1942, Serial No. 453,918

v 2 Claims. 1 The invention relates to improvements in containers made of paper, and methods of making the same.

More particularly it relates to cans for holding foods and other substances, in the broad general eld of utility occupied by tin cans and glass Jars.

The invention provides paper cans which are capable of being conveniently filled and rmly closed, tightly sealed if desired, with smooth and pleasing nish and aspect, which throughout shipment, warehousing, retail and domestic storage and handling, will be so strong and tight as normally to hold their contents safe from loss by leakage, from damage by extraneous causes such as mechanical shock, and from inltration leading to chemical or biological,deterioration.

To produce such cans from paper has long been recognized as highly desirable.y The can of the present invention accomplishes this and may be made of ordinary plural-ply sheet paper stock,

wound helically to cylindrical tube formationv with end closures of similar material, and involving no metal in the can structure. The body can be made impervious to liquid or gas when that is requisite, by the structural arrangement and juncture-sealing of an interior lining of impervious thin film.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a can whose body can be closed when filled to the level of its top edge, so that the body can constitute a precise measure of denominated capacity.

It is also an object to provide, a construction such that the closing of a lled can leaves no substantial body of air or other gas contained between the contents and the top closure; and, particularly, to accomplish the closing of the can without increasing the pressure Within the package, this being a matter of special diiiiculty when the closure element is a cylindrically flanged disk. However, the-invention provides for using plane disk closures. In either case the paper stock locks the closure on the body; and in certain cases' resilience inherent in the paper stock contributes to the holding of the joints'tight. Two tubes may constitute the can, one enclosing the other, with its ends turned inwardly Yfor annularly-holding the end closure tight in that other; or a single tube can annularly hold` firmly its own end clo- The opening of a double walled closed can of the invention can be effected conveniently by .cutting through one of the tubularwalls, whereby a removable cap is formed-which is replaceable if desired.

The can of the invention is tamper proof, in the sense that if an opening of the can has occurred'. between the time of itsV sealing by the packer and its reception by a retail purchaser, the fact that something irregular has occurred will ber manifest. This safeguards the purchaser against 'surreptitious substitution of inferior contents. l

It is an important attribute of the invention, in the present state of emergency, that the mechanical operations for closing and sealing the paper can of the invention require only simple compressive and rotative movements, for which apparatus is already available or readily obtainable at canning establishments.

In the strong tightly sealed container thus provided, the interior surfaces are of cellulosic or other non-metallic material, and so are not subject to the'risk of corrosion that is characteristic of tin plate, nor to the risk of breakage thatr characterizes glass. The can is a t substitute for either tin or glass, Without requiring either rubber or soldering metal for its closure. In addition, the inherent slight capacity of paper, to bend and Vto stretch without breach, adapts these cans to withstand such changes of volume of contents as may result from changes of temperature.

The various advantages, which attend the procedure/and the construction and the varieties in which embodiments of the invention can be made, will be best understood in connection with the description which follows. The drawings, which show several embodiments of the invention, are to be understood as illustrative rather than denitive. They are somewhat diagrammatic for the thicknesses of paper and film are necessarily exaggerated, which produces distortion in some places in the drawing where none is visible in the actual cans.

It is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression in the appended claims, whatever features of patentable novetly exist in the "inventiondisclosedl In the accompanying drawings of various cans embodying the invention:

Figures 1-'19 are side elevations of various cans lor fragments of cans,v each showing a section throughA the yaxis except that in Figure 4 the section is on 4-4 of Figure 3, and is parallel to the axis; Y,

,Figures 1, 2 and 3 show the elements and suc- La cessive stages of the closing of a can made in one of the preferred constructions;

Figure 4 shows details of that construction, on a larger scale, and illustrates also the film 'structure which makes the can body tight notwithstanding the cracks between successive convolutions of each paper ply;

Figures 5 and 6 show preliminary and final positions of parts of a can closed by a disk prelined with film and pre-formed' at its margin;

Figures 7 and 8 show preliminary and final disk-closure positions of a body where the film initially is stretched across the end of the body;

Figures 9 and 10 show apreliminary and an intermediate stage where each end of the tubular can body is closed by being wedged into a groove between its cylindrical outer tube and an end closure having a conical and cylindrical periphery;

Figure 11 shows a corresponding preliminary vstage in which the top closure is the same as in Figure 9 but the bottom closure is a disk crimped with the can body; and

Figure 12, at its top, shows the final form of 'the style which is incomplete at the top and the bottom of Figures 9 and l0 and at the top of Figure l1; the bottom being of the style of Figure 11; Figures 13 and 14 illustrate a closure by a disk rthat lits into a seat within a body-end that is Figure 19 shows they same construction as in YFigure 18 with addition of an exterior enclosing tube for strengthening the body and its end closure.

Figure 20, on a larger scale, shows detail of an annular wedging of the raw end of a tubular `can bodyrbetween an outer tube and the crimp of a crimped flanged disk end closure; and

Figure 21 shows a similar wedging against a conical-formed periphery of a plane disk.

The drawings portray the invention as it may be applied with cylindrical tubular can bodies, for which the well-known plural-ply helicallywound paper stock is illustrated' with end closures of plane disk type and of cylindrically anged disk type, these styles being. suitablel for a wide variety of uses; but other sorts of paper stock may be used; the bottom closures may be molded integral with the body stock, or may be otherwise connected to the walls; the flanged disk, shown in some cases as a short tube crimped to a disk, might be formed by molding flanges integral on'the disk, and variations using other known types, of body, of ends, and of body and end connections, may be employed where suitable;

The larger scale Figure 4 shows the detailed construction of the Style of body stock lil which is herein used for illustrative purposes, with means by which it can be made impervious' to liquids and gases if such is desired.

There the constituent two plies I I and I2 of the can-body wall, which together are marked I in all of the figures, can be seen in'helical windings, staggered in relation to each other.

As the making of a helical paperv wall impervious to air and liquid is a matter of difficulty, but may be requisite in a can, each of the figures shows walls equipped with a lm I4 for this purpose. This can be omitted from can bodies in which such tightness is not requisite. Such bodies may be either of plain paper'stock, or may be impregnated with wax, or may be treated otherwise in ways already known, for preventing liquid from soaking through.

The numeral I0 designates an ordinary two-ply cylindrical wall, but this is combined with a lining of impervious lm I 4. The said ply I I, which may be of any usual or suitable paper stock, is in its initial state a flat strip of any suitable width, e. g., four inches; and on that face of this which is to be inward there is adhered a lining film lil of any suitable larger width, for example, four and a half inches. This allows a margin of onefourth inch of film to project beyond each edge of the paper strip. One of these projecting margins is folded around the edge of the paper and is adhered to the back outer side of the paper, as is the margin Illa of the lm I4 that is on the convolution IIa in Figure 4. When this linedV strip is wound into helical form the face of each fresh convolution of the projecting margin at the other edge of the paper strip falls as at leb upon the nlm-bordered back of the first margin Illa of the same strip in the last preceding. convolution of the strip. There it becomes adhered, either by heat, paste, inherent quality, or whatever other means may be chosen. In so doing it becomes bent past the edge of the paper on whose face it lay in the convolution IIb. The

Voriginal two oppositely projecting margins of the lm ultimately become sealed together overlapping each other on the outside of the convolutions of the paper ply I I.

The paper may have any selected thickness, for example, .01.0 inch; and the film may have any selected thickness, for example, .001 inch; and the film may be of any desired suitable material having the required qualities of impermeability by liquid or gases or both, a considerable variety of which films are now known in the market under trade names as Cellophane, Pliolm, etc., which can be adhered together and to the paper. This makes a permanent flexible septum between the can contents and the inner ply I I of the can body. The outer ply I2 of the can body, similar to the inner, is staggered so that each covers broadly the helical crack in the other, in the manner well known. In the present case, however, the outer ply I2 covers thus broadly the sealed-together lm margins Illa, Mb, which are on the outer face of the inner ply II. Thus the body as a whole presents exteriorly the usual aspect of a cylindrical tube of this type, showing nothing but the paper; but interiorly it is lined with film so that the side walls of the body are impervious from end to end.

The outer tube 26 may be similarly made of two plies 2|, 22, with an inner lining 24 as represented in Figure 4, although often there is no need for the lm lining of this tube, and that element 24 may therefore ordinarily be omitted.

In view of the dimensional requirements of the drawing, and as the two plies II and l2 always act as one, these two are treated as if they were integral together and together are marked I0; and similarly the component plies of the outer tube are indicated by the single numeral 2Q.

The can may be made with a plain-ended tubular body I0 fitting loosely in a similar outer tube 23, one example of which is seen in Figures 9 and :210, 2O and`21, where the raw cut edge of 4the tubular body becomes wedgedand sealed ashereinlater described with reference to those figures.

lOr, the raw plain-tubeends may be crimped, on

ble-thick end rim of the tubular body,v which rim `presents endwise the film surface .l5 and. peripherally the lm surface lr6, the double thick paper body being here indicated by the numeral l'l.` In

ythis case the outer tube. 20 is `to be made with its innendiameter vsuch as will fit closely overthe outer diameter I6 of the doubled end of thel tubu- ,larbody.V This provides stiff ,end portions of the tubular body, and a stout'tube 20 surrounding .that,body, with an air space between these-two -equal to the thickness of that part of the tubular body which has been turned out at each end.

.A In the form .o f can which is illustrated in Figy ures 1-4 each end-closure of the tubular body is .a two-ply disk 50 of stock comparable to the body wall l and tube wall 2B, initially plane.; and the film 54 isaplane sheet cut to a circular size equaly to the diameter I6 of the outside of the doubled end of the tubular body. These Atherefore have their edges capable of fitting closely within the outside tube.r 20, and their margins overlying the doubled end I of the body, with the film 54 there in contact with the film of the body, and slightly deformed by pre-formation of .a groove and pressure together, as seen at the top of Figure 2 andrin the lower part of each of the Figures 1-4. The endwise pressure and the curved end of the body aid the making of a tight and permanent joint, suitably impervious. The tubular body and the outside tube are to be cut viin'isuch dimension of length that for the final stage seen in Figure 3 the end portion of the tube can be rolled inward to press upon the margin ofthe disk, for holding thisinner seal firm and makingA the contents of the can secure. To acfcomplish this, the tubular body is first set up to neary the top of the tube, preferably projecting a little as seen in Figure 1, the relative dimensions of rim and of enclosing tube being such that friction between the two rims of the body and the tube holds it there; or supports (not shown) may be provided underneath. After the can has been filled, preferably to the level of its top, the

disk of film 54 can be laid on; and over that the cover disk 50 (Figure 2) can be applied; after which pressure, applied in the axial direction on fthe margins over the pre-formed groove 5| of the top disk, will seal together the films 54 and l5,A

and will translate that disk and the .tubular can body and its bottom closure downward until they reach the position illustrated in Figure 2, which is predetermined such that there is enough projection of the outer tube at each end of the can body l0 to permit of the end margins of that tube being spun inward to the positions portrayed in Figure 3 which shows the finished can. This can is thus made tight and strong in a permanent way for the holding of'its contents without loss or contamination.

j Yet it can easily beopened by cutting circumiferentially through the outer tube in the region ofthe line 49, a littlebelow the everted rim I1.

For the convenience of retail purchasers such a 6 linemay be indicated on the can, or on the label of the can. `When the outer tube has been completely cut around,` its `top portion caribe lifted,

thus lifting the top disk 50 and leaving the whole upper part of the can body l0 intact without the implement used for the'opening, having entered the contents 9 of the can. Another easy way to open, leaving the top of the can body unaffected, is to cut from the inside outward between the cover 50 and the roll 25 which is holdling the cover. 4

Such cans having been received by the packer in stage of Figure 1, and having been filled by him, the packer needs only to hold the top in atmosphere of inert gas while he slips the clo, sure disk 5|] toa central position onthe can body and thenv pushes downward on its circular margin, stopping the movement when the b ody is mid-positioned within the tube, where -rotary spinning devices such as are well known are to be applied, preferably on both ends at the same time, for spinning inward the ends of thel tube vto makethe locking rolls-25. Since pressure of and'Y its skirts are stuck to the outer ply of the can body I0.

Figures 5 and 6 show the alternative arrange- Iment in which a disk 32 and itslining 34V of lm are preliminarily stuck together by any suitable means, their circular margins being pre-formed together as a concave groove to fit the size and shape of the film l5 at the rounded double thick end of the can body. The end of the outer tubeV may be rolled inward down upon this to lock it as in the other case.

Figures 7 and 8 show an end closure in which the diskV 33 is double thick, being two disks cemented together and acting as one. The second thickness is concentric and is of slightly less diameter so as to fit inside the mouth of the tubular f' body, and so to make a close marginal contact there with a sheet 35 of film that had been preliminarily placed flat across the mouth of the can body, pressing it tol the pictured position. This insertion makes a somewhat longer radial extent of vsealing between 'the two films 35 and I4. This style may be used ify the can body is not filled to the very top; and it can be used when `the closure being made is to be thebotto'm of the can. Y

Figure 9 has no eversion of the end of the can body. Each end of the can body Ill is cut off square having a raw edge, but it fits loosely into the outer tube 23 so that it can be flared outward a little like a bell, as seen at I4 in Figure 20. There is a crimped flanged disk closure at each end designated as` aV whole by the numeral 45, whose flange 4I, which is a short cylindrical tube securely crimped in Well known manner to the margin of a disk 42; around which closure there is laid on the outside of the crimping, as a drum head, a disk of film 21 with its peripheral margin turned down as a skirt around the outside of the ange of the cap 40. The exterior diameter 0f this. is a tight fit within the outer tube 23.- Therefore there is static friction, preferably, suitable for holding the body and its contents at the elevation where it is lled, yet not so much as lt0 ,anderes prevent it from being pushed downward within the tube to the middle 4position for the final closing operation. Such Va bottom closure itil being put into the 1position illustrated in ,an upstand- Zing Atube 23, (Fig. 9), and the can body being within that tube above it, that Ybody `may be iilled with the -desired contents, after which a similar cap bodylll) with drum head nlm 21 may be centered on the axis over the iilled body and pushed downward. The curve of the crimping of each cap combines with the adjacent kcylindrifcal interior of the outer tube to make an annular V-shape groove into which ythe flared rawend M Vof the can body becomes forced by the downward pressure, and the same thing Aoccurs at the bottom, sothat a physically tight wedge-like compressive closure is made both at top and bottom by the'same stroke of pressure, and an impervious ysea-lis made between the end portions of the `film inthe `can bod-y and those 4Vi'llms 21 which lie .in the Agroove on the crimped surface of each end closure, in the position indicated in Figure 10. The can thus closed is to be completed at both ends 4by a rolling -inward of the double-thick projection, consisting of the outer tube and the flange of the closure, to the position indicated at the top of Figure 12, thus securing the wedged sealings and closures-at both bottom and top, and producing-acan whose cylindrical'walls'are double thick.

.The having of a can body level full of solid or liquid contents is `inconsistent with the having of a cover which intrudes the body. If the cover is .held on by an .outside cylindrical flange, the

settling Vof the cover to its seat entraps air and undesiredly builds up interior pressure. The can o'f lFigures `9-12 provides a tight closure secured vby strengthand friction of `the vcylindrical Yengagement type without building up pressure on the contents of the can.

The cylindrically flanged closure of the present invention has the conventional ,aspect o'f an ordinary flanged cap, but has the distinction that it fits endwise against the interior wall of the can body; and Vthat it 'is secured there by being crimped to the exterior can wall. Unique among covers having cylindrical flanges, it becomes seated with respect 'to the can body without compressing any contents thereof.

The end closure may optionally be aV 'thick stiff disk of .paper as at 42 in Figure .21, the edge of that `disk being beveled alittle to constitute the throat for the wedging compression of the end of the tubular body. In that case the disk is locked'by asingle-thickin-roll of the outer'tube.

Without making the double-thick crimp at the bottomas in the structures of Figures 9 and '10; the bottom closure may be a lcrimping to a anged disk inthe ordinary way, yas at 44 in Figures 11 and 12; although the top of the can is Yto be closedas in Figures 9 and '10, or 21. In this case the length rof the outer tube, 23' is `lessbe cause,'not having to provide stock for a crimping at -the bottom, it is of properlength to .be iiush with the bottom closure when thecan bodyshall have been depressed .within it to the position for whatever type of top yclosure is to be used, as a crimping together of the top end `of that tube and the iiange of the top closure. 'This .latter crimping holds the can body within the tube so 'that its two-ply wall strength :is doubled.

Although -herein described for sealing a .rawedged tubular body, the construction of YFigures 9-12 may be V'applied to a canV body whose edge .isiilm-.coated being doubled outward as .in the other figures. Y

A :step beyond the .simple Veverting rof the top Vend of Athe can body is portrayed `in Figures 1,3 and 14, where lthe .top is Vfirst made into the Yeverted rim .i1 shape shown in Figure 1 Yand'then by die-.confined pressure applied upward on .the outer part of the .everted stock .is molded interiorly vby down .pressure Ato make a recessed seat .I'8 into which a .plane disk .cover 4,6 ts, 'lined with :film 35. For securement, a translation of the can body downward into the Aouter tube is followed by rolling the-topi end ofthe outer tubeover .on top -of the margin of .the disk, as in Figure 14 at 25. This translation adds no pressure to the enclosed contents.

Figures 15and 16 show a-modilcation-of this in which a similar internal seat .|18 is iformed in an Veverted top end of acanbody, but the outer tube 2U is Amolded upward only `far enough to be iiush with the top of the can body; and the top closure Vis a large disk having a central portion to beset in on the seat VI 8 and a yperipheral margin extending out as at 48, with enough stock to permit-of its -being wiped down outside -of the tube 2U. It will be understood that in this, as in any other situation where it may be desirable, heat or adhesives may be used to stick parts together, such practice being `common in the art.

In the can of Figures 17 and 18 a tight end closure 'seal is obtained without use of an outer tube, although such may be applied if desired, as in 'Figure 19, to strengthen the closure made in thecan body of Figure 18. In these ygures a iurtherstep is added to the 'moldingof the everted stock -o the yend .of the can body, las shown 'in Figures 1 and 18, in that after the everted portion lhas been molded to yform an internal seat like that -at i8 in Figures 13-16, and Yafter ythe can has been iilled, and the cover 45 with film 3E has been lfitted into it in that seat, the everted portion of the 'can bod-y is -subjected to a vfurther rmolding operation by which the everted portion Il is pressed upward somewhat and is somewhat rolledover inwardfon top of the seated Icover 46, as seen lin Figure A113. The part 'that was everted,

Yhaving originally had Ithe cylindrical dimension -of the can body l il, is under resilient constrictive stress, while it Yis everted. This constrictsthat part of 'the can body which lies radially inward from it, holding it 'radially-toward Athe edge of the disk which Vis seated at I 8 Vin Figures 14, 15 and 16. YSuch oi -this as becomes molded above the Yplane of thetop of the closure disk v46, by the molding step now being described, can be Vmolded slightly Vfurther inward 4to a position which it tends to "maintain, constituting a marginal ledge, a sort -of annular lug, overlying lthe disk 46 and holding it permanently .in place. These molding steps may be vaccomplished by spinning mechanism `types already 'known 'for operating on `Acollar fil to the .closure .member 42 andathis will .make avery tight seal. Y

In Figure 21 the inner body I0 with its liner I4 is shown as tapered outwardly so that the outer body wall 23 is spaced away Vfrom the inner body wall l. The closure disk 42' has its peripheral edge rounded on the under side and the liner extends over this edge. When the end portion 25 of the outer body 23 Vis rolled downwardly into contact with the closure disk 42' it will wedge the inner body wall in between the closure disk and the outer body wall, thus making a tight joint.

However, if doubled Wall strength be considered requisite vfor safely Vholding the contents of the can, an outer tube can be applied outside of this self-sealed can body, to afford both radial and axial addition of strength. The annular roll 25 of the outer tube has a cushioning value to resist shock as well as providing a smooth exterior finish and a doubling of wall strength.

The various tubular forms herein shown are not necessarily cylindrical, but that is simplest for manufacture. The top and bottom closures of a can are not necessarily alike, but option can be exercised among the various types known.

I claim as my invention:

1. A ber container comprising a tubular inner ber body, a liner within said fiber body covering the entire inner face thereof and extending outwardly over the ends of the inner body, a closure disk for each end of said container body, said closure Ydisks being dimensioned so as to overlie the ends of the inner fiber body, a liner associated with each closure disk and. extending throughout the entire inner face of the disk to the peripheral edge thereof and contacting with the 10 body liner, an outer tubular body having telescoping engagement with the inner body and 'projecting beyond the closure disk, the ends of said outer body being rolled inwardly into contact With the outerr face of the peripheral portions of the respective closure disks for forcing said disks into contact with the liners overlying the ends of the inner tubular body for sealing the container.

2. A fiber container comprising a tubular inner fiber body having the end portions thereof folded outwardly and downwardly into contact with the outer face of said body, a liner within said fiber body covering the entire inner face thereof and, extending outwardly over the ends of the inner body and downwardly onto the outer face of the folded back portion, a closure disk for each end of the 'container body, said closure disks rbeing dimensioned so as to overlie the ends of the inner fiber body, a liner associated with each closure disk and extending throughout the entire inner face of the disk to the peripheral edge thereof and contacting with the body liner, an outer tubular body having telescoping engagement with the turned back portions of the inner body and the end closure disks, said outer body being dimensioned so as to project beyond said closure disks, the ends of said outer body being rolled inwardly into contact with the outer face of the peripheral portions of the respective closure disks for forcing said disks into contact with the liners overlying the ends of the inner tubular body for sealing the container.

MARSHALL E. GAZETTE. 

